Hong Kong

Even after a year, my temples still ache when I think of my flight to Hong Kong in the summer of 2014. I had suffered from an intense sinus infection and despite feeling a bit better, I knew flying was a terrible idea. As the plane took off from Osaka, Japan my sinus cavities turned into slowly swelling balloons. The higher we rose, the bigger they got. They inflated against my skull until I was sure that they and my head would explode from the pressure. I don’t remember the flight after that.

When I woke up in Hong Kong, the first thing I did was blow my nose. I had just spent most of my second trip to Taiwan in a hotel taking who knows what kind of Chinese herbal medication, so I was determined to get out and explore Hong Kong. After a second and third tissue I stepped out into heat to find my bus. To my delight, the buses to Kowloon were double-decker buses. I raced to the top and managed to get a seat right in the front.

Like me, you might not have known that Hong Kong is a huge city built on mountainous islands. Ferries, buses, and metro transport people alike. Yet, despite the congestion of buildings and people, only a fraction of Hong Kong has been developed. So, it is a city built on islands, surrounded by green mountains, connected by bridges and boats. If there was any aspect of Hong Kong that I fell in love with, it was that.